Paul Ryan,We Hardly Knew Ye

Updated on August 31, 2016

We now have an extreme right wing republican ticket.

As the democrats were being successful in defining Mitt Romney as a person who is out of touch with the regular people of America,the average citizen,a crusader for the rich, millionaires and billionaires ,the one percent and wall street, Mitt "Gordon Gekko"Romney,he decides to finish the job for them and chooses congressman Paul Ryan,thee Paul Ryan, the Ryan budget's Paul Ryan as his running mate.Talk about game change,now the campaign which was about a referendum on Obama,his presidency and a slow recovery and economic malaise has turned into a choice between two candidates, two parties that for the last three years have had two opposing views on how to come out of a deep recession,and even though many people do not support Obama's policies it is clear he has been successful in stopping the downward economic spiral, saving the auto industry, the collapse of the financial system and although slowly jobs are being created for the most part in the private sector, where as when he came into office hundreds of thousands of jobs were being lost every month.In the meantime the republican party has been the party of no,the party that wouldn't take yes for an answer, a party whose leaders have publicly declared their primary objective is to defeat the president and the democratic party,and obstruct any attempt to better the economy so they can win the White House in 2012.A party that has been in control of the house of representatives with the lowest approval rating in the history of the country,and a congress that has rightly been characterized as a do nothing congress.And out of this congress comes out the vicepresidential candidate for the Republican party. Of course the extreme right wing of the party, the tea party, the right wing nut talking heads are energized, excited, and motivated,but in the area the Ryan pick doesn't help is precisely the area the upcoming elections are going to be decided on according to most of the political analysts in the country both republican and democrat, and that is the independent vote.

The extreme and out of the mainstream views of representative Paul Ryan

The negative repercussions of the Ryan pick are many and some are very prominent.The biggest problem the Ryan pick presents to the campaign is the fact that it puts in play the state of Florida that was almost out of reach for the democrats because of the medicare controversy given the large number of medicare recipients that live in the state,the proverbial third rail rides again.Another problem is the Ryan Budget itself, a budget that while it is loved by the tea party, and the right wing , it is so much disliked by such a huge majority of voters than not only are republican candidates for congress running away from it as much as they can but even the presidential candidate, Ryan's own running mate at the top of the ticket has tried to distance himself from it, in some really awkward responses one day saying his budget is very similar, the next day saying it's very different and then both candidates making conflicting remarks about the subject.The woman vote is an area the Romney campaign had hoped to if not close the gender gap completely at least make some gains ,but that has gone out the window because of Ryan's position on abortion where he doesn't even concede an exception for rape and incest and wants to completely ban all abortions nationally.His support and sponsorship of the personhood law, a law so extreme that it would make in vitro fertilization a crime, because the embryos not used would be murdered according to the personhood law.A bill so extreme it was even rejected in Mississippi .And last but not least in this front the fact that Ryan is a passionate enemy of equal pay.So as a final conclusion it is evident that the Ryan pick has only one positive result for the Romney campaign which is to finally making him acceptable to the base of the party that didn't trust him and wasn't yet sold on his candidacy and make sure he will have a peaceful and united convention, but the negative effects of his choice are many and may end up costing him the election.

And now to top it off like a cherry on a dunkin donuts' coolatta after his speech at the convention he is seen as...

A pathological liar,as a commentator on FOX NEWS, yes you read it right Fox News said Ryan's speech had the most number of lies by any speaker in any political convention ever.The contribution of Paul Ryan to the republican ticket is fading faster than even the ever feared Sarah Palin, as his philosophical positions become known (his obsession with Ayn Rand) and his extreme right wing political positions come to light ( sponsoring along with his legislative pal Todd Akin anti women bills). Paul Ryan may have a squeaky clean past and there are most likely no skeletons in his closet, but if he is defined as he has been until now, none will be needed to deem him a liability more than a contribution to the ticket.

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Comments 36 comments

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

A commentator on Fox News called Paul Ryan a liar that is a fact.This may come to a surprise to you but the United States has had for decades ,since the great depression many socialistic components in its national policies,while at the same time fought communism relentlessly internationally.For the simpleton communism and socialism is the same thing, but to anyone who can think for himself they are as different as night and day starting with the dictatorship of the ploretariat. I believe in democracy ,and in capitalism,but I also believe that measures are necessary to create a safety net to help the less fortunate in our society,and since you called me an almost communist I feel free to think you are probably a supporter of the tea party and the rest of the right wing extremists that would rather see the whole country suffer than to allow a Democrat president achieve any kind of success.And the people that have also shared this belief besides democrat presidents are Eisenhower,Nixon,Ford, Reagan,Bush the father and Bush the son.Pretty impressive list of commies, wouldn't you say? According to Fox News columnist Sally Kohn, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan's speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday "was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech."

"On this measure, while it was Romney who ran the Olympics, Ryan earned the gold," Kohn wrote.

In a surprising move, Fox News joined CNN, The Huffington Post, the Washington Post's Wonkblog, and ThinkProgress in publishing a fact-check of the Republican vice presidential nominee's speech, finding that the speech was full of lies and misleading assertions.

ZipperConstantine 4 years ago from United States

Fox News did not call Romney a liar. Some people will believe anything they read. Are you one of those social liberals. One who thinks socialism is better than capitalism. In a socialist society there are rich and poor no middle class. Did you know that socialism is border line communism.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

At the beginning I thought Ryan wasn't a bad choice........Boy was I wrong!!!

Elani-Lee 4 years ago from Los Angeles

I love it. The republican party is not very good at choosing VP candidates

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

you know i hadn't thought of that, but that is a very good point you make and makes a lot of sense.

junko 4 years ago

I think the Grand Old Party gave up it's righteous ways and invited the Dixiecrats into the Republican Party. It was called " The Southern Strategy" and all of the Democrats that were against the righteous ways of the Republican joined them to reverse their righteousness. The evil that was in the Democratic Party, joined the Republicans. Did you learn that part of American History mio cid?

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

In politics as in many areas where man is involved the best and the worst of humanity is present,I've followed politics all my life in the same way others follow their favorite sport,and my team is whichever favors the working man and the poor more,it is debatable whether the democrats or the republicans favor whom more, but it is my understanding and my conviction that the party that cries every time social justice is mentioned, the party that sees as outrageous that a worker would aspire to earn a decent wage,the party that blames the downfall of an industry because the workers have fought for a decent wage and earns 50 or sixty dollars an hour and considers this as greedy but at the same time sees as perfectly just and desirable that corporations , the oil companies, big Pharma , earn as much as they possibly can and that's not greed it's the free market at it's best.Whenever there is any mention of ending subsidies to oil industry that is described as ungrateful because of all the oil companies do for our country, same for any other corporations and millionaires and billionaires whom they call the job creators,thanks to frank luntz who has given the republicans a whole new lexicon and has told them which words they must use and which not,that is the republican party and that party is not on my side, the democratic party is not perfect or even close to it but one of the two will win the election and I believe the party that best defends the interest of the poor the working man, the middle class and the country as a whole is the democratic party, I may be wrong but that is how i see it. All said if there is something I'm not satisfied with barack obama and i believe hillary would have been a better president is because the clintons are the dirtiest players in the game (AND I MEAN THIS AS A COMPLIMENT) and they would not have been bullied by the right wing extremists and the tea partiers who took the gop hostage, and wouldn't have wasted two years of their mandate when they had both houses pursuing the utopia of bipartisanship and would have accomplished even more than obama did.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

Yea,about that,you'd be surprised how much American history is taught for example in Uruguay where I am from,and it has been provento pass the citizenship test you hav to answer question most of the general population don't know the answer to.

izettl 4 years ago from The Great Northwest

A politician is a politician is a politician. You think Repubs have dirty tricks up their sleeves- Dems don't. They're saints. Bet you didn't know about the psychology of voting. It's whoever plays the dirtiest wins- make you feel better about Obama. Whoever the public sees as more "evil" or "bad" is why they vote- to vote against the bad guy so whichever party does the best mudslinging wins. Funny thing is Obama wanted to help the average American and went into office right away bailing out big business (supposedly to help "us" out) but I don't feel helped. Healthcare for all. I have health insurance and I paid $6,000 out of pocket this year for medical expenses. How about fix health care before you give it to everyone.

izettl 4 years ago from The Great Northwest

Somebody mentioned dark ages? Yes if it wasn't for the republicans we'd not all be able to vote (more Repubs than Dems voted for the Voter Rights Act of 1965). The first Republican President abolished slavery (Abe Lincoln). So if it wasn't for Repubs we may still have slavery. Civil Rights Act of 1964, more repubs voted for that than Dems did. Dark Ages huh?

Problem is immigrants don't know their U.S history and should know that Repubs got us out of some dark ages unless you consider slavery not dark. Suit yourself.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

Senate minority leader Mitch Mc Connell interviewed by Major Garrett for the National Journal said that the republicans'most important job was to defeat Obama in 2012, he said "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for president Obama to be a one term president"

izettl 4 years ago from The Great Northwest

"have publicly declared their primary objective is to defeat the president and the democratic party,and obstruct any attempt to better the economy so they can win the White House in 2012." Where did that come from? If they wanted to win why would they say they want to obstruct gaining a better economy? who said this...other than you?

I don't think Obama has done anything- things haven't gotten worse...or as you state he stopped the downward spiral. So what? What has he done on the plus side?

An Obama is in touch with the real America- the non one percenter? Yeah right!

When I talk about politics, I never use Dems versus Repubs. It's not really about that. Most of the candidates are not part of the majority of America/typical Americans so what you're saying about that is how likeable and how relateable a candidate is, is equivalent to how qualified he is. basically you want a candidate to be like or appeal to the majority Americans? So your goal is any different than the media's?

I also think it's tacky when you quote and use examples from extreme political media sources. If Paul is such a liar why would he have a squeaky clean past? One who lies, certainly has skeletons...and you're just waiting for them aren't you.

Overall this hub has just turned out to be a them versus us...another one of those. Blah!

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

If the republican party doesn't reverse course and the hispanic vote becomes permanently democrat as the black vote is we may not see another republican president in our lifetime.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

If the republicans don't reverse course and the hispanic vote moves permanently democrat as the black vote is we may never see a republican president again in our lifetime.

junko 4 years ago

Because of the past 8 years of the Republican Presidency in the White House. The Party was sentenced to 8 to 16 years away from the office of President of the United States. The Old Guard Republican understand their sins when they had complete control and their leader was the Decider. The Teaparty, step in to fill the void, because somebody had to carry the Republican flag. They took the house of representives back in 2010 and through the brakes on the government and private sector job market. This was done in hope that the people blame the president for their unemployment today and not blame The Republican Party. I hope that enough people have not been made deft, dumb, and blind enough to vote for Romney and Ryan. REMEMBER THE ALAMO AND THE CLINTON SURPLUS.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

If I was a betting man I would put some money on independents and moderates moving away from the R/R tea party hostage ticket.

HLPhoenix 4 years ago

Hopefully the choice of Ryan as VP will show the Independant's and Centerist (if there are any left) Republicans that a win for the R/R Ticket will be a train ride back into the Dark Ages... only this time it will be an American Dark Ages.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

What you have just stated is the foundation for the greatness of the american economy,there have been rich countries before , but there had never been a country where so many had the opportunity to take part in the distribution of the wealth being created and the social mobility that ensued.

Ericdierker 4 years ago from Spring Valley, CA. U.S.A.

I am quite sure that our voting will not come down to the aforementioned arguments but rather Obamas' performance from this day forth.

LikaMarie 4 years ago

Those changes aren't even good for multi millionaires nor billionaires. What happens to those of us in the middle and working classes directly affects them. Just like the stock market, if we drop, they lose their workers, customer base, etc. The greed makes it so they can't see past their noses.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

Paul Ryan is a dogmatic extreme right winger, Romney is a spineless unprincipled technocrat , they may be very good for billionaires and millionaires but they are the worst for the rest of America.

Beautifully written blog. We don't need people like Romney nor Ryan anywhere near the white house.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

If we are to believe the latest polls the Ryan pick has done more to hurt than to help the republican campaign

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

How can these ignorameouses , who despise education call themselves conservatives,the likes of limbaugh ,hannity, glen beck are their leaders, people like William Buckley WOULD NOT touch these clowns with a ten foot pole.

chefsref 4 years ago from Citra Florida

I think you hit the nail with your comment about quasi religious. I've been saying the same thing for some time, conservatism has become a faith not a political philosophy. Like any faith it is impossible to apply reason or empiricism to the argument, that's like trying to talk someone out of their belief in God.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

thank you for reading and commenting i always value your input.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

I agree, and i also think voter suppression is going to be a huge adfvantage for the republicans in this coming elections and wil require an enormous effort to defeat this newest trick in the wascally wepublicans' repertoire.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

what's happened to the right is that it's no longer a political right it's a quasi fundamentalist religious right so there is no room for political dialogue or compromise

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

I agree with you that the ryan pick was a desperate choice because they saw themselves loosing anyway and there was no other alternative since the campaign wasn't able to move back to the center after the primaries because of pressure from the right and the tea party.

FitnezzJim 4 years ago from Fredericksburg, Virginia

Interesting article, I Agree with your early premise that the campaign should be about a referendum on Obama,his presidency and the slow recovery and economic malaise. After that, as usual, we aren't in the same camp. It takes more than ubiquitous finger-pointing to be President.

Michele Travis 4 years ago from U.S.A. Ohio

Mio cid I agree with you. Many people do not like Paul Ryan. However, the problem, is that because they do not like him, a lot of people have decided not to vote. They are just going to stay home. Maybe not all of them. The media has only shown the ones they have talked to about voting this year. I hope that does not happen, but it might.

Josak 4 years ago from variable

Spot on Mio cid as ever, how oh how did we end up with a social Darwinist Ayn Rand supporter as potential Vice President? What is happening to the right in this country?

Voted up and interesting.

Sooner28 4 years ago

In terms of the politics, Romney's choice of Ryan as VP is odd.

Ryan is a fan of Ayn Rand, proposed an extremely controversial budget, and voted for all the major Bush Era spending policies that dug a huge hole that was only exacerbated by the great recession.

I think Romney was thinking he was on the verge of losing, and choosing a soft-spoken moderate would not really change his image of being an out of touch corporate cretin. To me, the Ryan pick only enshrines his corporate obsequiousness deeper into his soul, the exact opposite of what he was aiming for.

mio cid 4 years ago from Uruguay Author

I think in the end it will depend on the state of the economy and unemployment at the time of the electiond and how successful the gop is at their voter supression strategy but the pick of ryan is a plus for obama.

Ericdierker 4 years ago from Spring Valley, CA. U.S.A.

Well written, interesting take. I think the election, like most with moderately successful incumbents is Obama's to lose. No major gaffs, serious scandals or a total weakness of standing tall for America and he is a shoe in. Perhaps the Ryan deal helps us to define the two parties better and that is a good thing.